lantas comeback as the Braves scored four runs

BALTIMORE – Dustin McGowan will see a "W" beside his name when he checks the boxscore on Saturday morning, something he could only dream about during endless rehabilitation stints while prime years of his big league career wasted away. He scattered five hits over six and a third innings of scoreless ball in the Blue Jays 2-0 win over the Orioles and thanks to shut down relief from Brett Cecil and Sergio Santos, got his first major league win since June 22, 2008. The story has been told repeatedly about McGowans troubled injury history; the multiple shoulder surgeries, the scuttled comeback attempts until finally, last season, he returned in June and proved to be a stellar member of a great bullpen. Relief work seemed his destiny, until perseverance met opportunity and suddenly he was a part of the 2014 starting rotation. Heres some perspective on Dustin McGowans achievement: John Gibbons, his current manager, was fired from his first tenure in Toronto only two days prior to McGowans most recent win; Mark Buehrle, his teammate who never gets injured, won 77 games in between McGowans victories. Surely, this one is sweeter. "I was just thinking about it, actually," said McGowan. "It was actually against Baltimore the last time I got hurt. It brought back a couple of memories for me." Thats McGowan, typically understated. You can forgive him, too, if hes grown weary of talking about his trials over the years. The significance of the win, though, isnt lost on his manager. "Its a kind of a sentimental night, you know, one of those deals," said Gibbons. "Hes come a long way. He answered the bell. He had a rough one, his first one and he bounced back tonight against a good hitting ball club. Thats very rewarding, for not only him but for everybody that knows him." It was somewhat of an atypical night for McGowan. It started out normally when he blew a fastball by Nick Markakis and then dropped a nasty slider on Delmon Young to record two early strikeouts. Strangely, those would be his only two punch outs on the evening. He two-hit the Orioles through 4 2/3 innings but hit a snag before the final out in the fifth. Markakis singled; so did Young. Then, Chris Davis, still without a home run this season but who earlier had lifted two fly balls to deep centerfield that the wind kept in the park, singled. The bases were loaded for Adam Jones. McGowan pumped a first-pitch fastball, at 95 miles per hour his hardest of the night, right down the middle for strike one. "I knew I had to get out of that jam," said McGowan. "Sometimes you have to save something in the tank for stuff like that. Tonight I just focused on pitching and reared back when I needed to." Two pitches later, Jones flew out to centerfield to end the threat. Baltimore wouldnt come close to scoring for the remainder of the night. McGowans next hurdle is to wake up Saturday morning with a shoulder that feels healthy. The hurdle after that is to repeat the same scenario on Sunday morning. Hes got another start next week, either toward the end of the Twins series or next Fridays game in Cleveland. Its been a long time since McGowan was in a routine. Hes still getting used to it. "Im still trying to find that perfect routine for me," said McGowan. "How I feel the best leading up to the days, what kind of lifting, what kind of running but it shouldnt take much longer to get it where I want it." Wholesale Adidas Stan Smith . De La Rosa pitched six strong innings to win his sixth consecutive decision, Todd Helton homered and the Colorado Rockies snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory on Wednesday night. Stan Smith Canada Online . At Manchester United, Ferguson developed Beckham into one of the worlds most recognizable sportsmen, but the midfielder left United in 2003 for Real Madrid under a cloud after his relationship with the manager broke down. http://www.wholesalestansmithcanada.com/. Louis Blues were workmanlike, methodical and -- most of all -- effective on Monday night. Stan Smith Sale Canada . They say things like "stress is when you dont know what youre doing" and "I wasnt hired to motivate players, I was hired to coach motivated players." They ring as true now as they did when Mularkey heard them the first time playing tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame coach 25 years ago. Stan Smith Canada Sale . "This is my city," the Toronto native said upon his arrival Wednesday night. And the 35-year-old former league MVP says he is hoping to making 2014 a memorable year.ATLANTA -- Fredi Gonzalez says if you keep putting the ball in play, good things can happen. The good things for Gonzalezs Braves on Monday night were a barrage of Mets errors which handed Atlanta the win. Three errors by New York fueled Atlantas comeback as the Braves scored four runs in the eighth and beat the Mets 5-3 for their fifth straight win. "We were never giving up, never giving any at-bats away," Gonzalez said. "Its the perfect example of putting the ball in play." The error-prone Mets wouldnt let the Braves give up. Errors by reliever Jeurys Familia (1-3), centre fielder Juan Lagares and third baseman Eric Campbell in the eighth helped the Braves rally from a 3-1 deficit. "Weve got to catch the baseball better," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We didnt catch the baseball tonight." Anthony Varvaro (3-1) pitched one scoreless inning to earn the victory. Craig Kimbrel recorded the final three outs for his 25th save. The Braves announced late in the game that catcher Evan Gattis will be placed on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI revealed a bulging thoracic disk in his back. Curtis Granderson had two hits, including a homer, for the Mets. Trailing 3-1, the Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against Familia. Following singles by Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, Chris Johnson hit a soft grounder to Familia, who threw low to shortstop Ruben Tejada at second base for an error on what could have been a double play. "I tried to be too quick throwing to the base," Familia said. "It was my fault. Its tough because you work for something and you have a chance to make the double play and you dont make it." Tommy La Stellas single up the middle drove in Upton, and Heyward scored the tying run when Lagares bobbled the ball in centre for another error. With one out, pinch-hitter Ryan Doumits walk loaded the bases again. Campbell, the Mets fill-in third baseman while David Wright sits with a bruised left rotator cuff, bobbled Andrelton Simmons grounder for the third error of the inning, allowing Johnson to score the go-ahead run. Dana Eveland replaced Familia and walked Freddie Freeman, pushing Atlantas lead to two runs. Gattis,, hitting .dddddddddddd.290 with 16 homers and 39 RBIs, missed his fourth straight game on Monday night with what had been called back spasms. He said he was told 95 per cent of similar bulging disks "kind of resolve themselves" without surgery. He said hell have an epidural as early as Tuesday. Rookie Christian Bethancourt, who made his first home start, and veteran Gerald Laird will be Atlantas primary catchers for at least two weeks. New Yorks Zack Wheeler was in position for the win before the Mets eighth-inning collapse. He gave up one run on four hits and five walks in 6 1-3 innings. The Braves were held without a hit until Heyward led off the fourth with a double. The Braves scored one run in the fifth. B.J. Upton, who hit a leadoff single and moved to third on Simmons single, scored on Freemans fly ball to left field. Atlantas Alex Wood allowed three runs on six hits in six innings. He gave up runs in each of the first three innings and then recorded 11 straight outs. Granderson opened the game with his 11th homer. It was his 26th career leadoff homer. Travis dArnauds double drove in Chris Young, who reached on a single, in the second. Youngs flyball drove in Daniel Murphy from third base in the third. Collins successfully challenged a ruling that B.J. Upton stole second base in the third inning. The safe call was overturned following the review, which lasted 1 minute, 15 seconds. Uptons slide easily beat the throw, but the replay showed he was tagged when he bounced off the bag at the end of his pop-up slide. Running from right field, Heyward made a sliding catch in foul territory on Tejadas fly ball to open the fifth. NOTES: Fans with tickets to Tuesday nights game can arrive early, with gates opening at 3:30 p.m., to see the U.S.-Belgium World Cup game on the video board. ... Collins said Wright will avoid the DL, but will remain in New York for rest and treatment during the Braves series. Collins hopes Wright is ready to play Friday when the Mets open a home series against Texas. ... RHP David Carpenter (strained right biceps) is expected to come off the 15-day DL on Wednesday. ... Braves LHP Mike Minor will face Mets RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka in Tuesday nights second game of the series. ' ' '